Social Sharing

Union Station flooding investigated by TTC and city

The city of Toronto and the Toronto Transit Commission are still investigating Friday's flood at Union Station that closed the station and led to parts of the transit line shutting down for more than six hours.

Social Sharing

TTC passengers were forced to find other ways home during rush hour Friday after flooding caused the closure of Union station and part of the subway line. (Aaron Vincent Elkaim/Canadian Press)

The city of Toronto and the Toronto Transit Commission are still investigating Friday's flood at Union Station that closed the station and led to parts of the transit line shutting down for more than six hours.

The subway line closed around 1 p.m. Friday from Osgoode station southbound to Union station and north to Yonge/Bloor station after water and sewage flooded Toronto's transit hub.

Full service didn’t resume until around 11 p.m.

"The coordinated response from the TTC and city to manage this incident yesterday was exceptional," said Mayor Rob Ford in an emailed statement. "Now we need to fully understand what happened and why so we can ensure this doesn't happen again."

TTC officials said the flooding did not cause any permanent damage to their electrical system and escalators would be working by Saturday afternoon.

Elevators, however, will take a bit longer to fix and are not expected to be functioning again until Monday morning.

Anyone with accessibility issues is being advised they can board the Number 6 Bay Bus, which runs north-south between Union and Bloor stations, and is a fully accessible route.

A lingering smell is the biggest reminder of the water and sewage that gushed into the station.

"The area has been fully sanitized, so it is fully safe for customers," said Jessica Martin, from the TTC. "But there is still an odour that hopefully will dissipate within a few days."

The mess was captured on video and many inconvenienced commuters took pictures, some of which were used creatively in a number of photoshopped scenes.